Adidas Proposes Flat Dividend; Growth This Year Expected in Second Half

By Pierre Bertrand

Adidas said it will propose a flat dividend for 2023 and that growth this year is expected to be geared toward the second half.

The German athletic apparel and footwear company on Wednesday said it would propose a dividend of EUR0.70 a share, and that it plans to return to its policy of paying annual dividends to shareholders in the range of 30% to 50% of net income from continuing operations.

That comes after Adidas posted a 75 million-euro net loss ($82 million) last year compared with EUR612 million in profit in 2022, on sales that, as disclosed in January, declined 5% to EUR21.43 billion.

The company, which chose not to write off most of its Yeezy inventory, and said in January that it instead intended to sell it off at an assumed cost, said Wednesday that it expected its underlying business to grow at a double-digit rate in the second half of the year.

Growth in the first half of the year will be hurt by work to reduce what Adidas said was elevated inventories in the North American market.

Adidas reaffirmed that the sale of its Yeezy inventory wouldn't contribute to its operating profit this year.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2024 03:13 ET (07:13 GMT)

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